Monthly Empties: 4Q 2013

Sad to say that my monthly empties turned into a quarterly empties post! I just haven't been able to finish enough products I suppose, which is not good as I've accumulated so much more products this quarter. ::raises fist to Sephora VIB sales::

First up is the Oct 2013 empties. I can probably even nickname this the toner empties month.

Oct 2013 Monthly Empties

Monthly Empties - April & May 2013

Hello everybody! It's been a while since I did my regular postings. Scroll all the way down if you want to read a quick update from me and see what I've been up to. =) Now since I skipped a month, I present you Monthly Empties for April & May!

I had meant to write a April Empties post, but never got a chance to writing it, so there are individual monthly pictures. As promised in my March empties, this month was emptying bottles of skincare!

April 2013 Empties

Influenster Sponsored - Beauty Blogger VoxBox

Here's a quick overview of the goodies (not to mention, they're freebies) from the Beauty Blogger VoxBox from Influenster. Influenster is a advertising/public relation company that offers free samples (and sometimes full size products) to specific target audience. It's free to sign up and you'll get your own VoxBox if you qualify! In the end, you're only obligated to fill out a short survey on your thoughts of each of the products they mail to you.

This time around, I was qualified for the Beauty Blogger VoxBox. And these were the goodies I received in the mail.

Influenster - Beauty Blogger VoxBox

Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin (full size - retails $7.29)
First thing I was excited to try were these Goody spin pins. I have the very stereotypical long and straight Asian hair and watching all those Taiwanese beauty shows have gotten me very into the whole wavy bohemian style updos. I've tried using bobby pins with hair ties and U shaped pins, but I couldn't achieve the effortless updos those models would sport! I was hoping this would be the answer to my prayers, but it fails to keep a bun to stay. =(  I think this would only work with textured hair.

Goody Spin Pins peeking under the bun

How the bun looks from the back, notice my hair loosing up on the bottom already.

Here's how it looked on me. These pretty much disappear into your hair, though I received brown ones instead of black, you can sort of see the metallic part of it sticking under my bun.  But it only took a few turns of my head before the spin pins start losing it's grip of my hair. Maybe if I have like another pair of them, it'll keep my bun a little more secure.

Bath & Body Works Mini Candles (retails $3.50)
I receive the scent in Pumpkin which I did NOT like. I just really dislike the heavy vanilla/cream baking scent. But I did utilize the coupon that was included to get myself THREE 3-Wick Bath & Body Works candles. I bought the popular Mahogany & Teakwood, Snowed In, and Sparkling Icicles. Mahogany & Teakwood was mostly a splurge because of so many people raving about it's scent being very close to Abercrombie's Fierce cologne. I loved Snowed In and Sparkling Icicles for it's very light and fresh scent.

EBOOST (1 packet sample)
I usually take Airborne when I feel the need to boost my immune system (especially when sick coworkers spread germs around the office). So I expected the Eboost to work the same way, but it also claims to be an energy booster. So it's probably a bad idea that I drank it at 12 midnight and now writing this post still at 2AM. Sigh.. It tastes like a very bitter Hi-C, I think I still prefer my Airborne.

NYC New York Color Individual Eyes Custom Compact (full size - retails $4.99)

I received the color in "Dark Shadows" (a limited edition), all of which were different shades of gray/silver. I don't own many shades of gray so this was interesting to play with. It comes with 4 shadows, a primer and an illuminator, with a double ended applicator so this is all you need to complete a full eye look. Three of the shadows are shimmery with a sheen while the last one has bigger glitter particles in it.

NYC New York Color IndividualEyes in Dark Shadows

Swatched on the under side of my arm. The four colors are a shimmer white, silver, charcoal gray and a black with glitter in it. The white and silver are not very pigmented and if you look closely they are quite a bit of fallout. I'm not sure why there would be a shimmer white in this palette when the illuminator looks exactly the same. The charcoal gray was my favorite. It's super buttery with great payout when it comes to color, the only thing I'll complain about is that the color looks so different in the pan. The black with silver glitter looked promising and looks exactly like Urban Decay's Oil Slick but you can see that the color payout is very poor, not even close to the charcoal gray.

NYC IndividualEyes on me

Here's how the shadows look on me! Please excuse the stray brow hairs. =)  A bit of a neutral look. The charcoal gray blended out very nicely. And you can sort of see the chunky glitter particles from the black shadow.

Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit (full size - retails $5.99)

Now this little lash kit was a nice surprise. Just when Youtube gurus like Frmheadtotoe and Raeview started putting up their "How to apply false lashes", I wanted to try too! I've only had them on once during a studio photo shoot in Taiwan but that was with the help of a makeup artist. But I was sad that the lashes that came with this kit was so UNNATURAL looking especially for a "starter" kit.

Here's a close up of the lashes. They are a set of super dense full lashes. I can't imagine anyone naturally having a set of lashes like this. (thumbs up to you if you do, because I envy you!). The lashes were really soft and says they're made 100% of human hair (though that does sound a little gross). I was happy that even with me pulling and tugging at the lashes, none of the lashes fell out and the lashes kept its shape. It was good that as a kit it came with a mini tweezers and glue.

The glue in the kit smell, well like glue, and I was a little apprehensive of putting it so close to my eye, but I do like that the glue tip was a little slanted to prevent you from putting too much glue on the lashes.

I look so much more alert with the lashes now.

Can you see how long the lashes are?!

Here's how the lashes look paired w/ the same NYC IndividualEyes compact. Can you see how much more alert I look with the lashes! My eyes instantly look 2x bigger! The lashes were a little too long so I had to snip away at the end. I had a lot of trouble applying the lashes correctly on the inner corners of my eye. The band was a little too thick for me. It was a little difficult to bat my eyes. Overall I really like these lashes, but I'll probably try another style.

Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream  (sample size)

I'm too lazy to style my hair, I usually just leave it in a ponytail or just let it down. But with winter coming, my hair gets very frizzy from the cold and my scarves (especially if I tried to wash my hair in the morning). The Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream is made especially for straight hair. I put a nickel size amount on my palm and just apply directly to my still damp hair. It worked really well with controlling the frizziness of my hair after it dried completely. I can't say I'm a fan of the scent though. Because it contains coconut extracts, the coconut scent was REALLY strong. I'm so glad the scent dissipated once my hair dry. I'm not sure if I'll actually purchase the full size, my hair doesn't dry completely for a few hours and the moisture must be locking in the scent. I'll see how it goes with the rest of the winter.

That's it for my Influenster VoxBox! I'm very glad that they offered items like these for people to try. I think it's a good way to branch out to different products and brands that are out of your comfort zone without actually costing you anything but time to complete a survey. =)

Winter Necessities! The Beauty Post~

Part 2 of my Winter Necessities blog. This time it's about the beauty products that I can't do without during the dry winter season.

The thing that irritates me most about winter is the dry weather. Kinda like an oxymoron when I think about it. Winter is all about cold and snow yet why is it so dry?! First thing I do before I change in the morning is applying mucho lotion on my legs and back. My skin gets rashy and irritated very easily when it's cold out. Aveeno's Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion was my fav this year. My skin remains silky smooth all day till I shower. Best of all it's not greasy and it's very light.

 

Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion

Of course my all time favorite beauty line is still the more Asian skin suitable Shiseido. I've used it ever since I was in high school! >.< almost 10 years ago...... Shiseido's White Lucent line have kept dark spots and uneven skin tone away from my face. My winter favs: Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Eye Treatment and Shiseido's The Skincare Multi-Energizing Cream. The cream works best for winter, locking in moisture. Although it tends to make my face a bit greasy looking. The brightening eye treatment's a MUST-HAVE for me to treat my @_@ dark circles.

 

Shiseido's White Lucent Brightening Eye Treatment & The Skincare Multi-Energizing Cream

Last but not least, wearing those extra layers of clothing can cover up your natural scent leaving you smelling more like your laundry detergent than you. I like to sprinkle a mist of a light perfume to have a little twist. My favorite in winter: Bath & Body Works' Eau De Toilette in Freshwater Cucumber.

 

Eeyore's Favorite Scent

Beautify winter!